How are the Las Vegas odds looking before showtime? Well, take a look below. Once again, what a week of dancing makes from the previous week of odds. Hines Ward and Ralph are now tied for first place. Kirstie and Chris have fallen a couple of notches. But, look at Petra. What an improvement she’s made on this list compared to past weeks. Here’s to tonight! We’ve got such a tight, unknown race to the Mirror Ball this time!

I'm a fashion and music fan....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. One of my favorite dancing quotes at the moment: "No matter what, nobody can take away the dance you've already had...." ~Gleb Savchenko . For fun music and dance mixes, visit WilUnleashed Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

Oy veh, based on our competitors and the dances for the week…and the “theme”…this has the potential to be either cheesy goodness or boring as hell. The Jury will remain out until tomorrow night. 🙂 So, what do we have? The Waltz, Viennese Waltz and the Paso Doble. WTF? Why 2 Waltzes?? Why? Add to that it’s “Classical” week and there will be a different stage (per Maks), plus a 40 piece orchestra (per Anna)…what does “classical” week mean?? All Classical Music, according to Anna. Well, that’s exciting. (end sarcasm) One of the fun things about this show is when they pick crazily wrong songs for a particular dance!! 🙂 Ah well…on with the show. I wonder if one week they can do Rock Week again, but with an actual ROCK Band. 🙂

So, we have four Paso Dobles, three V. Waltzes and two “slow” waltzes. I think Hines and Chris will rock the paso, but I’m not so sure about Petra and Romeo – both need to do very well. I can also see Kirstie, Ralph and Chelsea doing very well with their respective waltzes. As for the rest, very hard to say. It does seem they split the dances so that there were top tier performers and lower tier performers in each dance group. Very interesting.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Well, well, well…Heidi here. I’m afraid Courtney and I were very hit and run this week. While I am extremely grateful for my job, it actually had me working some nights and last weekend – and it’s sucked much of the creativity right out of me. In it’s place…well, just read me and Evaine’s commentary about half naked Derek and Maks. 🙂 That’s just about all I can handle. In any case, I hope you enjoy the cheesecake. Courtney is on her way out of town so I will also be struggling to fill in on her Power Rankings too. Oy. On with the show….

Worst Prop of the Week: The smoke machine

Courtney: Seldom does smoke really “enhance” a performance on DWTS – a notable exception is Jonathan & Anna’s waltz to “Hallelujah” last season – so I don’t understand why some pros insist on using them. In Dmitry’s case, I think it was a clever ploy to conceal Petra’s subpar footwork – and it seemed to work, as Carrie Ann conveniently missed several lifts, and everyone raved about how great her waltz was, despite some rather shuffly feet. Not sure what Louis was thinking putting Kendra in a smoke cloud – we all see how well that panned out. She looked about half-baked as she manged to stumble out of it. And maybe the judges had a bit of a contact high as well when they scored her, which could explain her inflated scores. Thankfully, Tom has assured us that the smoke machine in question has since been relegated to the community theater circuit 🙂

Heidi: What was really funny was the “Oh my god” that you hear in the recap – Kendra freaking out. Which is why they were all laughing so hard when they cut back to the couples on the results show. 🙂 Pretty hilarious. Kendra said she argued strenuously against the smoke machine and obviously lost. Which seems sucky. ALSO in the recap, you see a BLATANT lift by Dmitry and Petra – seriously blatant – and long. Kinda annoying. And the smoke wasn’t that strong – she wasn’t being eaten in like a horror movie where you could only see her from the waist up. Combine that with the TWO other lifts and I’d have to call Carrie Ann out for selective blindness.

Courtney: Let’s face it: Ray ain’t the best dancer this season, and he probably isn’t going to last much longer. So I can’t really blame Anna for going the gimmicky route with his paso – the boxing gloves, the entrance, the punching bag…and quite possibly the most creative intro I’ve ever seen for a dance on the show: a boxing announcer, complete with drop-down microphone. I thought it was pretty damn cute. And I daresay Hines has managed to make the Terrible Towel trendy on the show – the audience is waving it, the judges are waving it…I’m half expecting the entire celebraquarium to be waving it by season-end. For those of you unfamiliar with what it is, it’s a yellow towel that Steelers fans wave at games. I used to hate it, since as a Colts fan I pretty much LOATHE the Steelers. A local bar I frequent is unofficially a Steelers fans bar, and there’s always a Terrible Towel up on the wall. The towel has been known to inexplicably jump into my purse after I’ve had a few drinks, and then commits suicide back at my house either in my fireplace or in the jaws of my Chow mix, Xena (see below). It’s really an interesting phenomenon 😉 Anywho…now I’m faced with a bad case of cognitive dissonance, since I hate the Steelers and I’m starting to LOVE Hines. *sigh* What’s a girl to do?

Heidi: See, this is why some pros get yelled at for “messin’ about” and some don’t. Some messin’ about is pretty creative – like this. Another example is when Derek and Jennifer played the piano in the opening of their accoustic Argentine tango – very creative. Not so creative? Dusting the judges table for half the song. Sitting in the audience on your ass. LOVED the announcer, and Tom stepping in with the correct dance. As for the terrible towel – I thought that was sweet of the judges to do that. You could tell by Hines face that he was surprised and happy to see that. 🙂

Costume Brain Fart Award: Louis Van Amstel, for Kendra’s rumba dress

Courtney: If Kendra’s rumba dress looked familiar, it’s because it was almost identical to the one Chelsie wore for her pro dance with Damian in season 10, and then again for her rumba demo with Dmitry last season. But I have to confess – I thought it looked much better on Chelsie. Not only the color, but the cut – I think Heidi remarked on Twitter that all of the bodysuit-based costumes this week seemed to be cut a little on the conservative side.

Heidi:Actually, I think I said that the bottoms look like granny panties. 🙂

The “I Can Tell You’re New to This Show” Award – Week 3: Tristan and Oksana

Heidi: Tristan, DUDE, get thee to the spray tan! I haven’t seen that much white skin since…well, since Ralph disrobed in his own bathroom. But he’s not a pro dancer AND that was funny. 🙂 And also…I don’t need to see tongue in the Paso Doble. Not cool. Oksana – Mark Ballas’ facial expressions are OTT and not something to emulate. Just sayin’ – that will NOT help you be a better mail order bride, sweetheart. 😉

Courtney: I have a feeling we’re going to be having a heydey with Oksana all season 🙂 Very pretty girl, but an easy target – everything about her is just a bit too much. The voice. The facial expressions. The hair. The makeup. Definitely gunning hard for the green card 😉 As for Tristan – ok, I realize he’s trying to set himself apart as the “Irish lad” this season, but that doesn’t mean he has to look the part by being fair as the Emerald Isle! He was less Michael Flatley & more Casper the Friendly ghost out there. Side note: anyone else think it was a bit weird that they had Ted & Nicole dancing together and having to get up in each other’s face all kissy-like a couple of times? I know Derek has said that he’s had to rumba with Julianne in the past – awwwwwwkward – but it was never on the show. There’s 2 other chicks in the troupe…they couldn’t be bothered to stick Ted with Peta or Oksana? God I hope they separate those two in the future…because this show is gonna give me some serious Oedipal issues if not…

Heidi: Plus, the only time I remember actually seeing Derek dance rumba with Julianne was on tour when her original partner (or was it his??) was hurt – kinda funny, after the dance was over they couldn’t get away from each other fast enough. 🙂 You know, it also occurs to me that that Oksana could borrow Tristan’s tongue action….THAT would help the the green card for sure. 😉

Heidi: Is she wearing a diaper?? That’s what goes through my brain every time they showed her rehearsal footage. 🙂

Courtney: Maybe she’s just SUCH a dedicated dancer that she doesn’t have time for bathroom breaks. 😉 HA! I think those damn rehearsal shorts were about the only thing on the show that Wendy was 100% committed to. The thing that got me is that she mentioned in a segment on her show that she loved looking the part of a “serious dancer” so much that she would wear her rehearsal clothes out to run errands and whatnot! I can only imagine the thoughts of onlookers…”Is she incontinent?” “Is she trying to conceal a bad case of camel toe?” “Is she one of those extreme gamers that doesn’t have time to use the bathroom?”

Heidi: More like, “Is she a crazy bag lady?”

Biggest BURN by a Celebrity – Female: Chelsea Kane for Outing Mark’s Request for False Eyelashes the Previous Week; Honorable Mention: Chelsea Kane for telling Mark he is a better girl than she is.

Heidi: I’m liking this girl more and more all the time. What more can I say that Chelsea didn’t? 🙂

Courtney: Mark is just a liiiiiiittle too comfortable gyrating around like a drag queen – guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because Corky is pretty damn good at it, too. Someone should sign Mark up for RuPaul’s Drag Race, what with his fondness for false eyelashes and sassy dance moves. I can just picture him lip-synching to “Show Me Love” by Robin S. now…anywho, yeah, Chelsea calls it like she sees it, and I like that 😀 I’d also like to give my own personal “honorable mention” to Anna, who made the comment “I wouldn’t be able to keep up with Mark’s choreography!” before giggling heartily during the pros/celebs talk about the other pros/celebs time-killer during the results show. Even Anna seems to notice Mark’s spaztasticness. LIKE.

Heidi: Last season, Mark had a thing for eyeliner. LOTS of eyeliner, not just a little. Does this mean he’s graduated?? 🙂

Biggest Production Screw Ups of the Week: The Camera Dudes; (dis)Honorable Mention: The Sound Dudes

Heidi: Lovely shot of the FLOOR during Chelsea and Mark’s dance…Oh, and I really liked when it looked like someone smacked a steady cam during One Republics performance so we got that drunken pan of the audience next to the stage. Problem is, I don’t think you dudes use a steadicam, do you? :::rolls eyes::: And you sound dudes? Turn the audience mikes DOWN and the Bergeron’s mike UP – Tommy often says things that I find very humorous. Brooke? She’s fine. 😉

Courtney: Hell, I would just get rid of Brooke altogether…except then I wouldn’t have as much cheesecake material, since a lot of it stems from her obtuseness 🙂 But yeah, looks like they’ve got the orangutans and Muppets manning the cameras and sound board again this year as a cost-cutting measure – either that or they’ve outsourced the grunt work to India, and they’re taking liberties with the “censoring” of the show…maybe there was a dance move they found objectionable in Chelsea & Mark’s routine and decided to avert the camera to spare us. You think the censors over here in the States are bad…ooh wee. Try watching a Bollywood flick. It’s Sesame Street compared to most American movies! Instead of kissing or anything suggestive, they break into song. I can only imagine what an episode of Dancing with the Stars: India would look like…

Tom Bergeron Line O’the Night: “Later tonight, Len goes to the Wizard to get a heart.”

Heidi: WHY are all the good ones married? 🙂 Seriously apropos line for the Berge, not to mention funny as hell.

Courtney: Yeah. Tom’s dreamy 🙂 And Len still sucks.

Most Over Done Costuming Gimmick for the Week – Male: Dmitry Chaplin

Heidi: You know, if you whip your chest out all the time it stops being exciting OR sexy. Just sayin’. “Oh look, there’s Dmitry’s chest, it must be Dancing with the Stars.”

Best Brooke Distraction Technique of the Week: Kirstie Alley, for “You’re sooo pretty Brooke Burke” to get Brook off the fall topic

Heidi: Genius Kirstie has the ideal tactic – call the other female “so pretty” – she is forced to say thank you and laugh and then she’s out of time. Ta da!! LOL!!

Courtney: You know what I really love about Kirstie? She really GETS the show. I think she realizes that most of the banter that goes on during the show is complete crap, and unlike some of the other celebs, she’s learned to cleverly circumvent it…and she’s figured out early on that the path of least resistance is Brooke, who tends to fall apart if she drifts too far away from her canned dialogue, since her powers of improv are basically non-existent. Kirstie, if you keep poking Brooke with this metaphorical sharp stick, I will love you forever…it is my goal for you to get her completely tongue-tied by season’s end. 🙂

COOLEST Production Dude of the Week: Little Producer Dude in the Black Shirt During Petra’s Behind the Scenes

Heidi: Please don’t tell me that I’m the only one that caught the blatant eye roll the producer (stage manager??) gave the camera after telling Petra to get out on stage (and, by extension, to STFU)!! It was HILARIOUS. His face totally said, “Get the F@#k out there already, would ya?” Poor Petra, she was all “gush gush gush” and dude wasn’t having it. 🙂

Courtney: Miserable little peon 🙂 Nobody rolls their eyes at Saint Petra! Even you, self-important crewneck-wearing stage guy. No matter how much her philanthropic gushing in broken English may irk you. Kapeesh? 🙂

Most Bizarre Non-DWTS Costuming of the Week: Selena Gomez

Heidi: I spent most of her song thinking either she’d had a run-in with a mean guy on a lawn mower or she invited a bunch of school kids to make snowflakes out of the bottom of her dress for craft day. What the hell? It was pretty…but it was like Brooke’s satellight dish/Hepburn Hat dress. It was hard to focus on anything else.

Courtney: That whole performance was just odd to me. I wasn’t particularly floored by her singing, her outfit, the song, or Mark & Chelsie dancing…it was all just meh. But I’m sure Lacey would have loved to hack up that dress to make more crotch doilies. 😉

What a week it was for beautiful costuming. In my opinion, Randall Christensen and his crew outdid themselves. He explains how he was inspired for making some of the costumes even more personal to match their stories at Stylist. Note how Kirstie is nursing an injury.

Petra Nemcova: The long-legged Czech supermodel, who barely survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, vaulted to the top of the leader board, performing a soulful waltz she dedicated to child survivors of natural disasters.

For her top-scoring waltz, Christensen created a dreamy costume that featured an inventive dual-textured bra top. One side was encrusted with Aurora Borealis crystals, while the other was painstakingly hand-ruched. Layers of sheer, pale-blue chiffon gave the frock an ethereal quality. Nemcova and professional partner Dmitry Chaplin “had visions of Petra standing in the clouds so the light-blue fabric was the natural choice to signify an angel above the sky.”

Nemcova is the founder of the Happy Hearts Fund, which builds schools and shelters for children impacted by cataclysmic events.

Kirstie Alley: Despite crashing on the ballroom floor with injured partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Alley’s pale-gray rumba costume — and near flawless recovery — kept her looking good. The former “Cheers” actress worked closely with Christensen to conceive the design for her floaty dress to outfit a performance inspired by the “agony and ecstasy” of losing her mother in a drunk-driving-related car accident within days of getting her first major movie role, in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

“The fluted jersey panels added the sense of speed to her movements while accentuating her hip action, whereas the chiffon overlay softened her every move,” Christensen explains.

Meanwhile, our friends at PopEater report Alley is also nursing an injury.

Hines Ward: The NFL wide receiver scored big again with a sexy samba and, yes, the banana yellow of the trim of his black, sleeveless shirt and partner Kym Johnson’s buoyant two-piece bedazzled ensemble was Ward’s nod to Pittsburgh Steelers nation. “Hines not only nailed it, he showed how much fun he is having with that look and performance,” says Christensen.

Kendra Wilkinson: For her “prelude to the bedroom” rumba, Christensen trimmed the red, silk-bed-sheet-inspired overlay of her bedazzled leotard after a weekend fitting to show off her phenomenal legs, back and hips. Red is a color Wilkinson rarely wears, but “there was just enough blue in it to show off her eyes.”

Chelsea Kane: After their quirky jive was lampooned last week by the judges, the Disney star and partner Mark Ballas asked Christensen for a more traditional ballroom look, “just to show their commitment to winning.” Tradition came in the form of a bedazzled bra top and super-short, gold-fringe mini. “Chelsea was all about a hot, flirty, beaded costume, and we just went from there,” he said.

Melanie Mills, head make-up artist for the show, gave Hollywood Life some backstage secrets on the celebrities and the grueling process they go through as well to get ready for showtime.

Petra Nemcova is “so elegant, so sweet, so kind, just lovely. She’s a fabulous beauty but very humble.”

Kirstie Alley is “a fun, crazy gal. She’s hilarious and a hoot to be around and have fun with.”

Wendy Williams is “sophisticated but fun, and has a lot to say about everything! She loves her makeup and wants it piled on. One cute thing about her is as the makeup starts to get completed she almost starts to purr, she gets so excited! She’s been taking fun pictures of herself through process and Tweeting them–she loves the process.”

Kendra Wilkinson is “so cool and really down to earth. She’s a tomboy. She’s really nice and loves her baby and her husband, and has really been missing her baby lately. Her husband [Hank Baskett] is so cute, too– he comes in and they’re just adorable together. She’s really into the competition and wants to win!”

Melanie explains the grueling process of getting dancers ready for the competition: “They all get three to four hours of hair and makeup every day– half go into hair for an hour and half go into makeup, and they’re practicing in between.”

Why all the hair and makeup? Since the outfits are so wild (glitter and bright colors!), Melanie explains that “you have to balance the outfits– if you don’t have makeup on you look absolutely naked.” To keep the process fun, Melanie creates a festive atmosphere in the makeup trailer: “We have music pumping, we’re dancing– we create a fun environment in there!”

Melanie also explained how she did Kendra and Wendy’s make-up in more detail to In-Style.

Since Wilkinson was dancing the romantic rumba, Mills kept her makeup soft and sultry. “We toned down the over-the-top diva look that we’ve been doing the last few weeks and instead went for a soft bedroom eye,” she told us. Mills swept amber shadow from Anastasia’s Illumin8 Complex eye shadow palette No. 5 ($40, sephora.com) across the entire lid, and then rimmed her eyes with black pencil and finished with tons of lifting mascara. A few dabs of highlighter on the star’s cheekbones and chin warmed her complexion and added a touch of light, as seen on Mills’ face chart (inset). See Wendy Williams’ look after the jump!

Wendy Williams had a different inspiration. “Wendy Williams’ look for the Foxtrot was inspired by Jessica Rabbit,” Mills said. By layering brown shadow on the lid, the makeup artist kept the look innocent, while shimmery black shadow underneath the lower lashline and along the crease added a smudgy, sexy appeal.

What an outstanding effort by everyone behind the scenes. No tables were left unturned and Petra gets my vote for the best costume. Who gets yours?

Picture above of Kirstie from the Dancing With The Stars Make-up Facebook page. Visit the link to see more.

I'm a fashion and music fan....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. One of my favorite dancing quotes at the moment: "No matter what, nobody can take away the dance you've already had...." ~Gleb Savchenko . For fun music and dance mixes, visit WilUnleashed Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

Oy veh. Another crazy night of scoring. As much as I love Petra as a person, and like Kendra too, you can’t tell me that their dances were that many points better than Ralph or Chris, or even Chelsea. It’s weeks like this where I have to wonder if the judges are trying really, really hard to manipulate who’s going home. Why do I say that? Well…gee, let’s take a look at the scoring. It seems clear, to me. The question is, will it work? 🙂

The Judges Scores and Percentages

Place

Celebrity

Score

Percentage

1.

Hines

25

11.68

2.

Petra

25

11.68

3.

Chelsea

23

10.75

4.

Kendra

23

10.75

5.

Ralph

21

9.81

6.

Kirstie

21

9.81

7.

Chris

21

9.81

8.

Romeo

20

9.35

9.

Sugar Ray

20

9.35

10.

Wendy

15

7.01

As you can see, Wendy is scored WAY below the other contestants – she’s five points below the next celebrities! That is 23,365 votes per million votes cast! I don’t disagree with that at all. It’s the scoring of the other contestants where things get hinky. 🙂 Specifically, Petra and Kendra – overscored, as much as I like both of them. Anyway…

I think that Kirstie Alley’s likely the safest of them all after watching Maks get injured and then soldiering through so brilliantly. Way to Go!! Maks looked to be in pretty serious pain and even at the end of the show he was favoring the one leg and not putting weight on it. I hope like hell he’s not badly hurt, but I worry. Usually the pros on this show don’t let it show as much as Maks did, which makes me think he was really hurting. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed for him and Kirstie that he’s not hurt too badly. Regardless, I think they are safe.

I also think that Hines, Ralph, Chris and Chelsea are also safe, not so much on the scoring, but on my perception of their popularity combined with the voting. Hines, Ralph and Chris in particular seem like they would be very popular. Hines and Ralph for sure, Chris possibly less so. Chelsea is likely the fourth of the four, but she’s got some time to ramp up the competition. Keep in mind that my analysis has less to do with actual dance ability, but more the scoring combined with my feel at the end of the night for who is connecting with the audience. Of course, the overscoring of Petra and Kendra play into this as well.

Does anyone honestly think that Kendra was 2 points better than Ralph and Chris? How about Petra being 2 points better than Chelsea and 4 points better than Ralph, Chris and Kirstie?? Seriously. Even if you are a die hard fan of Dmitry and Petra…4 points? Don’t get me wrong – I adore Petra. I think she might be an angel. Someone whose outside matches her inside perfectly. And her dance wasn’t bad, or terribly flawed – just not as good, emotionally or technically, as the others. There is no way in HELL that she should have outscored the people she did by as much as she did. Not to mention the fact that her feet came off the floor at least 3 times and Carrie Ann was conveniently blind. I can see missing one lift…but three?? The conspiracy theorist in me is screaming right about now.

Look at the scoring – you’ve got Kendra and Petra who are two not horrible but not great dancers scoring higher than those that I consider to be more entertaining and better dancers, and you’ve got Wendy way down at 15 points. Now, if you think Kendra and Petra are overscored, but others scored about right, it certainly appears that the judges are protecting Kendra and Petra from Wendy’s voting fanbase – giving them a bit of a safety net that Kirstie, Ralph, Hines and Chris may not need. Honestly, I can’t figure any other reason that Petra and Kendra end up towards the top of the pack. I think they are trying to set Wendy up to leave. I don’t have a problem with that, per se, but I do kinda have a problem with them propping up dancers just to keep them around. They did that last season and we all remember what happened there. 🙂

As it stands right now, Wendy would need about 47k votes per million votes cast to beat Petra and about 37.5k votes per million cast to beat Kendra. If Petra and Kendra were scored down at 21 with Kirstie, Ralph and Chris, Wendy would only need 28k plus votes to stay over one of them. And if the stories about her fanbase are to be believed, then she could probably do it. But those extra points provide them some protection – an 19k vote cushion if you will. 🙂

So, now, it appears more likely that Wendy, Ray or Romeo is the one in danger. For Wendy to stay she would need to do one of the following:
– Get 23,400 more votes per million votes cast than Ray, or;
– Get 23,400 more votes per million votes cast than Romeo, OR;
– Get 28,100 more votes per million votes cast than either Kirstie, Ralph or Chris
– And so on with the other contestants upwards of 37,400 votes…

Honestly, I think it’s Wendy’s time to go. I hear too much complaining about her on twitter and in the comments here. Her fanbase would have to be massive and I think tonight we will find out. IF Wendy manages to stay, then it may be Romeo – based solely on his age and the likelihood that his fanbases is a voting one.

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Wow, what a night Everyone!!! One of the best yet!!! Let’s get right to some new interviews afterwards. Most of the videos below were with my favorite interviewer George Pennacchio from KABC in LA. One video is from Good Morning America today.

A recap.

Romeo and Chelsea talking about how this dance was about so much more than technique.

Kirstie and Maks explain what happened with the fall and how it ended up being a “test” (I love Kirstie’s eyes and how she bends one up sometimes).

Maks talks to Good Morning America on the fall as well.

Chris and Cheryl on how doing this dance meant so much to him.

Hines and Kim talk about the shout out and tribute to his Mother and how much it meant to him and her.

Chelsea feeling ecstatic about listening to the judges last week and going more traditional paid off.

Ralph and Karina talking about why he chose the song for their dance. His wife’s reaction was worth it all.

Kendra and Louis much happier with their dance last night. Concentrating on her “legs” paid off.

Petra and Dimitry so happy they did better.

Wendy as confident as ever. She says she’s ‘still the statue’ and ‘queen of the radio’ ( 😯 ,not sure how much more I can take of this and poor Tony).

I'm a fashion and music fan....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. One of my favorite dancing quotes at the moment: "No matter what, nobody can take away the dance you've already had...." ~Gleb Savchenko . For fun music and dance mixes, visit WilUnleashed Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

So story week, with the exception of a few cheesetastic moments, wasn’t terrible 🙂 At least not for me. Only a few tears were shed, and I was impressed by just how pretty everyone looked – no totally weird costumes, which means no cheesecake material in the costume department, unfortunatley, but at least they were all nice to look at!

A few overall thoughts on tonight: Len is loco and sometimes scores with his pee-pee; Carrie Ann is still in heat and is scoring with her va-jay-jay more than ever; Petra & Kendra may not be getting enough votes; Ralph & Kirstie may be getting too many votes; annd Tom Bergeron still reigns supreme as king of off-the-cuff humor 😀

1.) Hines & Kym – If I were Ralph or Kirstie, I would be very, very afraid of Hines – because right now, he’s making some pretty tough choreography look like a piece of cake while they’re still struggling. I think that may be his greatest asset – nothing seems hard for him. And of all of the male contestants this season, I think he is the only one that (most of the time) actually leads Kym, rather than her doing a lot of backleading. Now THAT is impressive 🙂 Plus, the guy is always smiling, and seems to really work hard during his practice sessions. I was worried that the samba would be his Achilles heel – negative, ghostrider. He may not have truly killed it like he did with his quickstep last week, but I daresay that was a pretty damn good samba for it only being week 3. Aside from having the highest score, I think the Steelers Nation is still very, very much a force in keeping these two safe – and they may be growing in number, with the amount of Terrible Towels I’m seeing each week 🙂

2.) Ralph & Karina – I could almost tell by the look on Len’s face before he even opened his mouth that he had already chosen Ralph as one of his whipping boys this week. Granted, I don’t think the rumba was Ralph’s best dance (and I do think there were stronger rumbas tonight), but that stodgy old coot Len went all Sugar Ray on him and tore that dance to shreds. *sigh* Honestly, like Sugar Ray’s jive last week, I really don’t think this was that bad – I do think Karina let Ralph down a bit in the choreo department, and Ralph is still doing something funky with his hands and could have infused a bit more passion into the dance, but I don’t think it was 21-worthy. I would have given it at least a 23. My only guess is that maybe Ralph is getting HOARDS of votes, and this is the judges’ not-so-subtle way of trying to level the playing field once more. Dancing in the Pimp Spot certainly won’t hurt him, but I daresay the Team Kamacchio fans will likely vote even harder this week to make up the difference, since he’s dropped a few points since last week.

3.) Kirstie & Maks – My heart just absolutely shattered when I saw these two go down 🙁 I couldn’t really tell what had happened, but at first I was like “Oh no! Poor Kirstie! Did she just lose her balance?” and it wasn’t until later that I saw that it was actually Maks’ leg that had given out – and then I got REALLY worried. Most pros can dance through the pain – if it isn’t too bad. But poor Maks just had “OUCH!” written all over his face. I’m sure every news outlet is going to be replaying that fall tomorrow (ugh), but I have to give the judges and the hosts props for doing their best not to rub it in – I think everyone was really classy about it. And from what I saw of the rumba they did do, I really liked it – it was simple, stripped down, and had a very honest, vulnerable quality to it. Everything I like in a rumba 🙂 Now comes my suspicions: I have to wonder if the judges would have given Kirstie a 21 regardless, because from the looks on their faces when they whipped out those 7 paddles, I got the feeling they had almost planned those scores ahead of time. Kirstie is definitely one of the more popular contestants this season, and I would venture a guess that she’s getting a good share of the votes – maybe this was another opportunity to “level the playing field”. Or not…I could be a bit paranoid 🙂 Either way, I think the GMak fans will vote even harder after the little mishap tonight!

4.) Chris & Cheryl – As some of you may have seen me declare on Twitter “I like Chris more and more each week.” 🙂 And not just because he’s a nice guy that has a softer side – I actually do see improvement in him from week to week. I get the feeling that Chris is putting 110% of himself into doing well. I think this may have been my favorite rumba of the night, and here’s why: Chris was the guy that managed to do more than just stand there while their partner danced around them (ahem, Karina & Chelsie) and was still there for their partner at every moment. Chris still managed to look exciting while standing still, and never took his eyes off Cheryl. Plus there was a vulnerability to him tonight that I absolutely loved 😀 And I know I’ve said it many times before, but I’ll say it again: Chris has a BIG edge in having Cheryl as his partner. I think these two are a lock for at least the semi-final at this point. And I can’t wait to see what he can really do!

5.) Chelsie & Mark – Surprise, surprise – Mark overdanced yet again. But luckily, I think Chelsea is the first partner he’s had that has really been able to keep up in both the energy and the face-pulling department, hehe 😉 This was a cute cha-cha – a bit frantic at times, but cute nonetheless. I’m glad they went for a more traditional cha-cha, despite a more rock-type song. Chelsea still seems like she’s a little afraid to really extend her legs and arms, which is hopefully something that will diminish as the season rolls on. It kinda sucks, but I really don’t have a whole lot more to say about these two. Hopefully that’s not a sign that they’re already becoming forgettable to me :-/

6.) Romeo & Chelsie – AKA, Len’s Whipping Boy #2. Another unwarranted rant from Len…grrrr. Was this rumba perfect? Hell no. But I do think it was an improvement, and was underscored by a point or 2. I liked seeing Romeo more vulnerable and even a bit nervous – the bravado seems to slowly be creeping away, folks. I think Chelsie may have let him down a bit with the choreo, though – this was another instance of the female pro just blantantly dancing circles around their partner. I kinda wish she had involved him a bit more in the dance, like Cheryl did with Chris – but then again, maybe Romeo couldn’t have handled it at this stage of the competition. I’m wondering if Romeo is going to be one of those guys that are better at the ballroom dances, since they aren’t so “frou-frou” and don’t require him to let loose as much. I think these 2 ought to be safe this week, just due to there still being crappier dancers with a dubious fanbase to vote for them…

7.) Kendra & Louis – Ok judges, I give up: what is it that is so damn great about Kendra? Seriously, what is it? Because I’m baffled as to why she’s been overscored 2 weeks in a row now. Yes, the song she danced to was lovely and she looked very nice, but she still looks very wobbly to me, and definitely got off-time a few times in this routine. And she always seemed to have a rather lost expression on her face – like she was looking to Louis for reassurance after each step. The one thing I did like? The did some pretty cool tricks – probably the best of any of the couples tonight…but we all know a good routine is more than just a “hodgepodge of flashy tricks”, as Len would say. I think this may be yet another instance of the judges trying to equalize again – judging from Kendra’s crappy running order positions the past 2 weeks, I’m thinking she’s one of the less popular contestants…and may not be getting the votes TPTB think she should. Hence, a bit of a boost from the judges. She will likely stick around another week or two, but if I were her I would start improving by leaps & bounds if I wanna last longer.

8.) Petra & Dmitry – Can’t decide if the scoring on this one was a) an attempt to make things more equal among the contestants, b) Len following the urges of his loins, or c) collective lunacy on the part of the judges. A 25??? REALLY?!!! No way in HELL this was anywhere near as good as Hines’ samba, with which it tied for highest score (if memory serves…too lazy to look it up right now :-P). I will admit, it has been Petra’s best dance thus far; but she’s still shuffling her feet, missing steps, and “making weird shapes” with her body. And dadgummit, she can’t manage to keep those long legs of hers on the floor when Dmitry does anything that could remotely be construed as a lift? Then again, the Lift Police seems to be too busy enjoying her engagement and scoring with her genitals to notice. Grrrr. I have to wonder if the outrageous score was a byproduct of the field-leveling and it being almost impossible to hate Petra. The woman is an absolute DOLL. But again, I’m wondering if she’s just not getting the votes, and needs a little help from the judges to stick around a bit longer…

9.) Sugar Ray & Anna – You notice I added the “Sugar” back in front of Ray’s name? I can’t resist – this guy is just so damn sweet 🙂 And while the debate on Twitter seems to be between Sugar Ray & Wendy on who’s going home, I will just say this: I got far more enjoyment watching Ray cheese his way through his paso routine tonight than I got from Wendy’s bizarre facial expressions during her foxtrot. Really, I didn’t think his paso was terrible – gimmicky, yes, but it seemed to work in his favor. Poor Ray just seems to move so small – I can’t decide if it’s years of boxing injuries that have limited his mobility or what, but I think he’d be light-years better if he could just move BIGGER. I’m not sure these two have much time left on the show, but I hope they can at least outlast…

10.) Wendy & Tony – I don’t think I need to reiterate any further my disdain for Wendy, so I’ll try to keep this brief: Wendy’s a non-event for me. I think I’d rather watch paint dry/grass grow/water boil/etc. than watch another one of her low-energy, slow-moving dances. This was the 2nd week in a row that her dance felt more like a leisurely stroll across the floor, and she too seemed to get a bit lost if Tony wasn’t in her line of sight. And let’s just say her mannerisms off the floor just irk me. ‘Nuff said. I hope that America gets it right this week and sends her packing…from the look on his face, I think Tony hopes so too 🙁

Alright, my beautiful little monsters, discuss: who’s going home tomorrow night? Who sank and who swam tonight? Did you enjoy storytelling week or hate it? And while you discuss, might I make a suggestion? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to tweet some encouraging words to both Maks & Kirstie…both just looked heartbroken after their dance. If you’re a GMak fan, let them know you care; if you’re not, maybe just send some positive energy their way. Good karma never hurt anyone 😀

Once again, what another week of dancing makes! To make it a little easier to understand the odds, this time we put them in order. Note how Chelsea and Chris are tied for 4th. Sugar Ray really took a dip from our previous posting last week, but, I don’t think it would be wise for the odds makers to count him out just yet. Same with Kendra and Romeo! This competition is anyone’s ballgame….or in this case, betting game. Please Everyone, be sure you VOTE tomorrow night all you can for your favorite dancing couple(s).

I'm a fashion and music fan....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. One of my favorite dancing quotes at the moment: "No matter what, nobody can take away the dance you've already had...." ~Gleb Savchenko . For fun music and dance mixes, visit WilUnleashed Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

I'm a fashion and music fan....and I have always loved dancing too of any kind. Dancing With The Stars seems to have this way of bringing all of those things together. One of my favorite dancing quotes at the moment: "No matter what, nobody can take away the dance you've already had...." ~Gleb Savchenko . For fun music and dance mixes, visit WilUnleashed Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

Okay, this could be one crazy week, for sure. 🙂 The celebs are telling a story that’s personal to them? Oh dear. This rarely bodes well. I can’t say that I’m a fan of this theme. But then, most of you know I’m not a fan of themes in general, although I did like the acoustic night that wasn’t. That will probably be the one they don’t do again. 🙂

Now, does someone want to explain to me why we get FIVE rumbas and a hodgepodge (tm Len) for the remaining dances?? What on earth? It’s only week 3, it’s not like they’re running out of dances. Someone clue me in here. I can’t even guess what is going on – at first I thought all the top dancers were getting rumba and everyone else was getting something that played to their strengths. But then I saw that Hines has Samba and Chelsea has Cha Cha – arguably dances that will play to their strengths. They included Kendra in with the rumbas, so that also shot that theory. So, are Ralph and Kirstie so dominating the voting that they were given the rumba, while Hines and Chelsea need a little help so they got more uptempo dances? Same principle applies to Ray? The waltz definitely benefits Petra better than a Samba or a Rumba would. The only explanation I can come up with for this random set up is that it’s not random at all and it’s a bit of deck stacking to level the playing field – or attempting to. After all they got SO much attention with “shocking” eliminations…lord, I’m such a cynic. 🙂 Hey…anyone got a better explanation?? Back in the day, 3 years ago, they had two dances and you did one or the other. 🙂

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)